Bracket for swinging stages



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY YVITZGALL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

BRACKET FOR SWINGING STAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,536, dated July 7, 1896.

Application filed March 26, 1896. Serial No. 585,024. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WITZGALL, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Brackets for Swinging Stages, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to safety-brackets for use in connection with the swinging stages ordinarily in use by painters and like artisans, and the object of the invention is to provide brackets capable of ready attachment to the stirrups of swinging stages, the attachment being so made that the stage will be laterally adjustable on its brackets, thereby permitting the stage to be carried outward to clear any projections from a building, such as a cornice, fire-escape, or balcony, the brackets being provided with cushioned rollers adapted for constant engagement with the face of the structure to be operated upon.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the brackets that when attachedto a stage they will hold such stage firmly in the desired position, enabling a person to walk thereon with as much comfort as though the stage were a fixture.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved bracket attached to a stirrup of a swinging stage, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

In carrying out the invention the stirrups A of the stage B are preferably of the ordinary construction, and the stage is secured to the stirrups in the usual or in any approved manner; but each stirrup of a stage has a yoke 10, pendent from its lower or horizontal member near the inner end of the stirrup, and the bottom portion of the said stirrup-yoke may consist of a screw 11 and its sides of parallel plates, or instead of the screw a roller-bearing may be provided, if desired. The horizontal member of each stirrup is further provided at a desired point in its length with a set-serew 12, and preferably the bottom of the stirrup has an enlargement 13, through which the said set-screwmay pass. The bracket 0 consists of a vertical loop member 15 and a horizontal top member 15, which is usually made in the nature of a bar; and in the vertical or loop member 15 of the bracket wheels 16 are journaled, provided with peripheral cushions or tires 17, of rubber or other yielding material, so that when the wheels are brought in engagement with the surface of the building to be operated upon the wheels will not mar the said surface to any appreciable extent.

The two members of the bracket are connected by a brace-bar 18 at points near their centers, and the upper or bar member 15 has an upwardly-extending yoke 19 constructed thereon near its outer end; and the upper portion of this yoke may consist of a screw or a roller-bearing, as in practice may be found desirable. The bar member 15 of a bracket is passed through the yoke 10 of the stirrup with which connection is to be made, and the bottom member of the stirrup is passed through the yoke 19 of the bracket, the stirrups thereby having sliding connections with the brackets, whereby the said stirrups may be carried inward entirely over the brackets, or outward a sufficient distance to clear the obstructions, the brackets remaining in engagement with the building, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

After the adjustment of the stirrups on the brackets has been accomplished, the setscrews 12 are tightened so as to insure rigid connections between the said parts. It is obvious that when a bracket of the above de scription is employed the stage will be rendered perfectly steady, and an operator may walk thereon with safety and without danger of spilling any material being carried from point to point on the stage. Furthermore,

the brackets are exceedingly simple, durable,

and economic, and are readily applicable to any form of stage-stirrup.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A bracket for swinging stages, comprising a Vertical member provided with wheels extending beyond the rear face thereof, a

horizontal member arranged to be connected by yokes to the stirrups of a stage, whereby lateral movement between said stage and said bracket is effected, and means substantially as described for elfecting rigid connection between said stage and said bracket, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A bracket for swinging stages, comprising a vertical and a horizontal member, the vertical member being provided with wheels journaled therein adapted for engagement with a building and having a cushioned tire, the horizontal member being provided with a yoke to receive the base member of a stirrup, as and for the purpose specified.

3. A bracket for swinging stages, consisting of a loop-shaped vertical member, a bar horizontal member and a brace connecting the two at points between their ends, wheels having cushioned tires journaled in the loop member, one above the other, and a yoke attached to the horizontal member, adapted to ad 3' usiably receive the base member of a stirrup of a swinging stage, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with thestirrup of a swinging stage provided with a yoke extending downwardly from a point near its inner end and having a set-screw located in its base member, of an angular bracket comprisinga vertical andahorizontal member, the vertical member being provided with cushioned wheels and the horizontal member with a yoke adapted to receive the base member of the stirrup, the yoke of the stirrup receiving the horizontal member of the bracket, whereby the adj Listing-screw of the stirrup may be brought to an engagement with the upper portion of the bracket and the stirrup will be adjustable on the said bracket, as and for the purpose specified.

HENRY W l'lZ jrALL.

-Witnesses:

DAVID F. KISKADDEN, ARCHIE MoOoNNELL. 

